Winds of openness and togetherness flow around Microsoft today and things once considered impossible are happening at a regular interval.

Summary:

Microsoft is no longer predictable, it is no longer 'closed and exclusive.' Look who it is partnering with today- Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, Citrix, Box, DropBox and even Amazon! Everybody is talking about Microsoft Office being available on iOS and Android.

Microsoft Linux! Can you believe! Winds of change sweeping through Redmond

- Balendu Sharma Dadhich

If it was not the now-proverbial 'Satya Nadella era', could you have ever imagined that Microsoft will one day have its own version of Linux? Winds of openness and togetherness flow around Microsoft today and things once considered impossible are happening at a regular interval. It's amazing to see the transformational changes taking place at Microsoft and making it more open, move inclusive and more connected today. Other than the 'Cloud First Mobile First' strategy, in my opinion it is the wave of openness sweeping through Microsoft which has unlocked new opportunities for the Redmond based giant.

Microsoft is no longer predictable, it is no longer 'closed and exclusive.' Look who it is partnering with today- Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, Citrix, Box, DropBox and even Amazon! Everybody is talking about Microsoft Office being available on iOS and Android, but few people have noticed that Microsoft has over a period of about 2 years released more than 100 apps on the rival mobile platforms. So the strategy is to grow together with all or to use every conceivable product or service to extend its reach? Probably both as platform is no longer important but reaching out to the user is.

Microsoft's strategy seems to be working. The company is growing. The stock has gained about 15% in the past few months. New initiatives such as Azure are making inroads. At the 9th September iPad Pro launch what Apple showcased prominently was Office for iPad, developed by Microsoft. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and Translator applications have been updated to take advantage of enhancements to the iPad Pro tablet. It's apps are to be seen on Apple Watch as well.

And at the recent Salesforce event Satya Nadella was one of the main attractions. Microsoft boasting its relationship with Linux makes the transformation complete, and we as observers love this! I am sure we are going to see many more surprises from Microsoft in the days to come as it has embraced the philosophy of 'being common makes you really special.' It's the power of thought at work in Redmond!